Christmas shopping.

My husband and I spent the day driving to antique/consignment shops in the downtown area. Today was his Christmas gift to me-- taking me to shops I don't get to very often and letting me pick out holiday gifts. He kept asking me what I wanted, and I couldn't think of anything.

What I did think of -- 1950's-era Christmas items -- I couldn't describe to him, but I knew where we could find them: at the larger antique co-ops downtown. I don't drive there myself because the downtown area is very confusing, and with all the construction they're doing, you never know when you're going to have to detour. I don't know the inner downtown Loop from the outside Loop, and as much as it's been explained to me, I just don't like driving there.

So that was the "gift" that I thought of-- take me downtown to those shops and I can look around and see what they have. Most of what they have is expensive--- I picked up a lot of Santas and vintage ornaments and put them right back down. The dealers in those co-ops are in love with their inventory-- it's priced so high that most of it doesn't sell, and not one dealer had discounts on their Christmas items. It's the week before Christmas-- do they really want to pack it away and keep it till next year?

I did find two small Santas to add to my Santa parade (both for $5), and two Santa ornaments. We also added eight dessert plates to our Christmas dinnerware. I was going to buy the sugar and creamer, but they were so overpriced that I decided we didn't need them that badly-- I have a gold & ivory set that works just fine. In one of the kitchen displays, I found a set of silver measuring spoons which are imprinted with pretty teapots... very unusual, and if you're going to go to the trouble of using measuring spoons, they might as well be pretty to look at.

In the Smith & Hawken garden store, we found beautiful tree ornaments that were all 30% and 40% off the original price, which made them reasonable. You can't buy anything in that store that isn't on sale because everything is overpriced, in my opinion. (Rents in those downtown areas are expensive, and the prices reflect that.)

I also found four pretty Christmas mugs which are perfect for hot cider. I really didn't need four more holiday mugs, but they're vintage china, made in England, and too reasonably priced to leave there. I told our around-the-corner neighbor V that my obsession with Christmas mugs this year was due to her own collection of holiday mugs. V doesn't like to use paper cups with hot cider, so she has enough Christmas mugs for thirty guests. She doesn't invite 30 people at once, but if she did... they'd all have their own mug.

One of the best things I found today was a tiny little porcelain angel bell, which still has the blue and white "Japan" label on the inside. Sweet sound from this tiny bell, and a sweet face on the angel. Now how could I have explained all these things to my husband when he kept asking me what I wanted for Christmas? I kept telling him I'll know it when I see it, and that's just how it worked today.

We had lunch at a German restaurant downtown... delicious food, excellent service, a warm and cozy atmosphere with German-style decor. Except for the fact that our waiter's name was Juan, we could have been in Germany. The waitresses there were dressed in German-style blouses and jumpers, and the waiters did have nice uniforms. Juan was an excellent waiter, and I guess he couldn't have passed as a Hans. Definitely worth the drive downtown for that meal, and we took half of our meals home-- very generous portions of delicious homemade German food. My husband ordered the weiner schnitzel, which he said was nearly as good as what he had in Germany, and better than the fancier German-European restaurant we went to last week on the other side of downton with K & B. My dish was a salmon stuffed cabbage roll, cooked in a lobster sauce-- delicious. We also ordered potato pancakes, and just tasted them and brought the rest home because we also both ordered a cup of soup (onion soup for my husband, swiss cheese & wine soup for me). Everything was too good.... and how in the world do I cook a meal here after having a meal like that there?

An extra surprise when we got home-- three boxes of pajamas and books on our front porch, delivered by a volunteer who collected them for my Chapter of the Pajama Program. I knew she had been collecting pajamas, but didn't know when she would drop by with them. I had told her to leave them on the porch for me if I wasn't here, and that's just what she did... three huge boxes that were filled with pajamas and books, warm socks and little toy cars. I've already counted and sorted everything, so I will be busy delivering them next week. Jingle bells... Christmas surprises for all those kids!